One of the most important parts of being a Georgia FBLA chapter is having the chance to become Chapter of the Year. What is Chapter of the Year, one may ask? The Chapter of the Year program recognizes the top chapters in the state. Chapters earn points for participating in the many activities offered by Georgia FBLA in the areas of chapter management, conference attendance and recognition, recruitment, public relations, and participation in national and state projects. Chapters earn points to earn the designations of Gold, Silver, and Bronze and lastly encourages members and chapters to get involved on the local, state, and national levels by attending conferences, participating in state and national projects.
This monthly update is supposed to help your local chapter get the “easy points” that are hidden in the Chapter of the Year entry form. There are many ways to get points from the things your chapter already do or what your local chapter can easily do. I want your chapter to realize that every chapter can be a “top” chapter and every chapter can have their time in the spotlight. Hopefully by this year’s State Leadership Conference, more chapters than ever can become Bronze, Silver, and Gold Chapters.
The first activities that your local chapter can do is very simple. When you look at the entry form and see the Chapter Management. Go to the subsection called Chapter Management and Organization. Some of these activities are perfect to do around this time because they are meant to prepare your chapter for an amazing year. First, you can receive 10 points for conducting a planning session for new officers during the summer. You can have this planning session right after SLOTS when your local chapter officers are fresh of ideas. Then 10 points developing a chapter program of work, 10 points is for preparing a chapter public recognition 5 points for developing a point system for chapter member recognition, and 5 points for preparing a chapter budget and income statement. Those activities are something that be done with your local chapter the first few weeks of school when your chapter is trying to set everything up.
I hope that these activities are helpful to get you on track on your chapter of year journey. Next month I will help you explore the other half of Chapter Management and Organization. If you have any questions about Chapter of the Year, you can email the state adviser, Monty Rhodes at monty@georgiafbla.org.
